At First Glance
UC Santa Barbara will bring a 1-2 record into its home opener on Wednesday night. The Gauchos will play Pepperdine (1-3), which has lost three in a row. UCSB has played all three of its games without the services of senior guards Branduinn Fullove and Nick Jones. The former remains sidelined with an ailing left ankle and the latter was suspended for the first eight games of the season.

Gaucho Update
UC Santa Barbara returns Wednesday night after playing its first three matches away from the Thunderdome. Last weekend, the Gauchos competed in the Montana Holiday Classic. UCSB lost both games in Montana, the first to St. Mary's, and the second to Southeast Missouri State. The losses came after UCSB opened the season with a road win at Hawaii.

Doubletree Holiday Classic Recap
UCSB, still playing without senior guards Branduinn Fullove and Nick Jones, dropped a pair of games at the Doubletree Montana Holiday Classic in Missoula, Montana. The Gauchos went ice cold and dropped their tourney opener to St. Mary's, 62-48. Santa Barbara shot just 32.8% for the game, including a miserable 2-for-17 from three-point range. In fact, before UCSB made a three-pointer in the closing seconds, it was 1-for-16 from beyond the three-point arc. Santa Barbara was also outrebounded by the Gaels, ,42-30. The Gauchos were led by forward Casey Cook who scored 13 points and had six rebounds and Josh Davis who had ten points and five boards. On Sunday, UCSB dropped a tough 77-75 decision to Southeast Missouri State. The Gauchos led by as many as six points in the second half, but could not hold on. On the offensive end, there was a marked improvement over the tournament opener as Santa Barbara scored a season-high 75 points and shot a season-best 45.6%. On the defensive end, however, things went a bit haywire. Southeast Missouri's 77 points were the most scored by an opponent in the first three games, and they shot 52.0% from the field overall, 62.5% in the second half and 58.8% from three-point territory. Senior point guard Jacoby Atako made 9-of-11 field goal attempts, including 4-of-6 from three-point range, and set a career-high with 23 points. Cook was solid again as he equaled his career-high with 16 points and six rebounds before fouling out.

Missing Guard No. 1
Senior guard Branduinn Fullove, the 2002-03 Big West Player of the Year, an Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American and a Preseason All-Big West selection, injured his left ankle midway through the first half of UCSB's exhibition loss to Ratiopharm Ulm on November 12. He did not make the trips to Hawaii or Montana and he will not play in Wednesday night's game against Pepperdine. Fullove's status beyond Wednesday is up in the air. Last year, Fullove led UCSB in scoring at 14.6 points per game. He also averaged 3.7 rebounds per game, shot 46.3% overall, 41.4% from three-point range and a team-leading 83.7% from the free throw line. Fullove is the first Gaucho player in history to earn some level of All-Big West honors in each of his first three seasons. As a freshman in 2000-01 he was Honorable Mention All-Big West, as a sophomore in 2001-02 he was Second Team All-Big West and then last year he was Player of the Year.

Missing Guard No. 2
Senior guard Nick Jones has been suspended for UCSB's first eight games of the 2003-04 season after playing the same number of games in an uncertified summer league in Mexico. Jones, who averaged 12.4 points and 4.3 rebounds per game as a junior, sat out the season-opener at Hawaii and both games at the Montana Doubletree Classic, he will also miss games against Pepperdine, Westmont, San Diego, UCLA and Kansas. Jones will resume play on December 21 against Alabama State at the Wolf Pack Classic in Reno.

UCSB Radio Moves To Clear Channel Santa Barbara
All 2003-04 UC Santa Barbara men's basketball games will be broadcast by Clear Channel Santa Barbara. The majority of Gaucho games will be aired on KTLK 1340-AM, but when a conflict with Los Angeles Lakers' games occurs, the UCSB games will be carried on KTMS 990-AM. The agreement between UCSB and Clear Channel Santa Barbara comes after KEYT NewsRadio, the Gauchos' former home, converted to Spanish-language in early November. The schedule to the left indicates which UCSB games will be carried on KTMS 990-AM.

The Williams FileBob Williams is in his sixth season as the head coach at UC Santa Barbara. Last year, he guided the Gauchos to an 18-14 overall record and a 14-4 mark in Big West Conference play. The Big West mark earned Santa Barbara its first-ever regular season championship along with a postseason trip to the National Invitation Tournament. In addition, the success earned Williams his second Big West Coach of the Year award, his first coming after an impressive 1999 campaign. In 2001-02, Williams led UCSB to its first Big West Conference Tournament Championship ever and first NCAA Tournament appearance in 12 years. In his five seasons in Santa Barbara, Williams' teams have posted a 81-69 overall record and a 56-28 record in Big West games. Prior to his arrival at UCSB, he spent eight years at UC Davis and in those eight years, his teams recorded 20 or more wins five times and a 158-76 record. In Williams' final season, the Aggies went 31-2, won the NCAA Division II National Championship and he was named NABC Division II Coach of the Year. Including two seasons at Menlo College, Williams has a record of 270-169 at four-year schools.

Possible Starters - Notes
G - Jacoby Atako - Scored a career-high 23 points in Sunday's loss to Southeast Missouri State.
G - Cecil Brown - Stomach flu limited him to 23 minutes and four points on Sunday.
G - Josh Davis - After missing all eight shots in the opener, he went 7-of-12 in the last two, 58.3%.
F - Cameron Goettsche - Had highs of seven points and seven rebounds vs. Southeast Missouri.
F - Casey Cook - Only Gaucho to score in double-figures in each of the first three games.

Probable Reserves - Notes
G - Nick Jones - Suspended for first eight games of 2003-04 season.
G - Branduinn Fullove - Injury to left ankle will sideline him indefinitely.
G - Joe See - Tied for the team-lead with four three-point baskets through three games.
G - Chrismen Oliver - Scored a career-high nine points in the loss to St. Mary's.
F - Bryan Whitehead - Had 11 rebounds in a total of 25 minutes at Montana Tournament.
F - Bray Skultety - Has attempted six free throws and only three field goals in first three games.
F - Glenn Turner - Has six rebounds in just 14 minutes over three games.
F - Derek Wheeler - Has yet to play in a game.

Chris Devine Set To Redshirt
Freshman Chris Devine will redshirt the 2003-04 season, head coach Bob Williams has announced. Devine, a 6-foot-8, 200 pound forward from Chugiak High School in Eagle River, Alaska, in the only true freshman on the UCSB roster. As a senior at Chugiak High School he averaged 22.1 points, 10.3 rebounds, 3.0 blocked shots, 3.0 assists and 4.1 steals per game. Devine is joined as a redshirt by Michael Chambers, a 6-foot-3 guard who transferred to UCSB after playing two seasons at the University of San Francisco. Chambers, who will be a junior in 2004-05, is a walk-on for the Gauchos. As a sophomore in 2002-03, he averaged 11.0 minutes, 2.6 points and 1.0 rebounds per game while playing in 24 contests.

Three-Point Drought
In its first two games, UCSB made a combined total of five three-point baskets. The Gauchos hit three in their first game at Hawaii, a total that equaled their lowest of the 2002-03 season, and they made just two in Saturday's game against St. Mary's. The last time UCSB made fewer than two three-point baskets in a game was when they made just one on February 9, 2002 in a win over Cal State Northridge. The eight three-point attempts that the Gauchos logged at Hawaii was also the fewest since they attempted seven in that 2002 game against Cal State Northridge. In the loss to St. Mary's, Santa Barbara was 2-of-17 from beyond the three-point arc, a dismal 11.8%, the lowest percentage since a 5.6% effort on the road at San Jose State in November of 1999. On the bright side, the Gauchos bounced back on Sunday. In a loss to Southeast Missouri State, UCSB hit 9-of-18 from three-point territory, a solid 50.0%.

The Opposition
UCSB and Pepperdine have played 63 times since the series began in 1940. The Waves hold a 34-29 advantage in the all-time series and they won the most recent meeting, defeating the Gauchos 72-68 in December of 2002. Santa Barbara and Westmont College have met 46 times over the years. In the series that goes back to 1951, the Gauchos hold a decisive 41-5 edge. Westmont last won in Bob Williams' first year as head coach, 1998-99. Last season, the teams met only in an exhibition and not in a regular season contest. The last time the Gauchos and Warriors met in a regular season game was in 2002-03 and UCSB won, 74-63.

UCSB At Home
Wednesday night's game against Pepperdine will be UCSB's 2003-04 home opener. Needless to say, the Gauchos are 0-0 at home this season. Last year, UCSB posted a 10-2 record at the Thunderdome, losing an overtime game to Cal State Fullerton and a non-conference game to Detroit. In 2001-02, the Gauchos also posted a 10-2 home record. The 10-2 mark that Santa Barbara has recorded each of the past two seasons is the best home mark for the program since the 1989-90 team went 11-2.

UCSB Inks Three To NLIs
UCSB signed three high school players to National Letters of Intent during the early signing period. Gaucho head coach Bob Williams announced the signing of Alex Harris, a 6-foot-5 guard from St. Joseph's Notre Dame High School in Alameda, Calif., Todd Follmer, a 6-foot-10 center/forward out of Rancho Santa Margarita High School in Santa Margarita, Calif., and Chris Moore, a 6-foot-9 forward out of St. Edwards High School in Lakewood, Ohio.

A Point Guard, Literally
Senior Jacoby Atako has been UCSB's starting point guard since about ten games into his freshman season. He has led the Gauchos in total assists in each of his first three years and his 314 career assists ranks him seventh on the all-time school list. In the first three games, however, Atako has passed-off for just four total assists. With the Gauchos producing a total of just 25 assists in the first three games, however, there weren't many to go around. On the other hand, Atako entered the 2003-04 season with a career scoring average of 5.0 points per game and his career-high at the start of the season was 13 points. He matched the 13-point effort in the season-opening win at Hawaii, but then he tallied just one point in the loss to St. Mary's at the Montana Doubletree Holiday Classic. In game two of the Montana tourney, however, Atako had a career game on the offensive end. The Santa Monica, Calif., native made 9-of-11 shots overall, including a career-best 4-of-6 from beyond the three-point arc, and he scored a career-high of 23, improving on his previous career-high mark by ten points. In fact, Atako easily scored a career-high in the second half of the game, going for 18 on 7-of-7 from the field overall and 4-of-4 from three-point range. The 23 points was the most scored by a Gaucho player in the first three games and it improved Atako's scoring average through three contests to 12.3 points per game, second on the team to Casey Cook's 15.0 per game. He is also leading the team in field goal percentage through three games with a mark of 63.2%. Finally, with three steals in the first three games, Atako now has 95 in his career and he has moved into tenth-place on the career list.

Cook Serves Up Some Tasty Performances
Junior forward Casey Cook tied his career-high with 16 points in the season-opener at Hawaii and he kept it going on the offensive end in the two games at the Montana Doubletree Holiday Classic. Cook scored 13 points, had six rebounds and tied his career-high with two steals in the game against St. Mary's and then he had his second 16-point outing, adding six more rebounds, in the game against Southeast Missouri State. Cook entered the 2003-04 season having scored in double-figures six times in his previous two years and this year, he is the only Gaucho player to have broken the double-digit barrier in all three games. The Sacramento native enters Wednesday's game against Pepperdine as Santa Barbara's leading scorer at 15.0 points per game and as the team's leading rebounder at 8.0 rebounds per outing. Cook ranks second on the team in field goal percentage at 53.1%, and he is also second on the team with 32 field goal attempts. He is averaging 10.7 field goal attempts per game, a sharp increase from the 3.9 per game he attempted last season and the 4.1 career mark he entered the season with. In addition to his scoring increase, Cook's 8.0 rebounds per game are 4.5 per game more than he averaged last year. The 16-point, 12-rebound performance he had against Hawaii was not only his first career double-double, but it was the first time he had ever had more than nine rebounds in a game. Finally, through three games, Cook has made all 11 of his free throws, extending a two-season streak to 23 in a row. Through 15 games last year, he had made just 12-of-25 free throws, but in the 20 games since then, 17 last season and three this season, Cook has gone 48-of-53, an outstanding 90.6%.

Help Cecil, Help!
Sophomore guard Cecil Brown has started each of UCSB's three games. Despite suffering from a stomach flu on Sunday, he played 23 minutes in the game against Southeast Missouri State. Brown is third on the Gauchos in scoring at 8.0 points per game. He scored a season-high 13 points in the team's season-opener against Hawaii, but in the last two games he has struggled with his shooting, making 5-of-16 shots, 31.2%. In the game against Southeast Missouri, Brown did lead the team in assists with three, the second highest total of his career. Also, in the first three games, the Canoga Park, Calif., native has played a team-leading 89 minutes, an average of 29.7 minutes per game, up significantly from his average of 16.2 per game last year. Including his season-low 23-minute performance in the last game, Brown has recorded three of the seven highest minute totals of his career in the first three games. In fact, his 35-minute performance at Hawaii was the second most of his career and the 31 minutes against St. Mary's was his third-highest total.

On A See-Saw
Sophomore guard Joe See has yet to extend his hands above his head and scream, but through three games, the transfer from Oregon State is clearly on a bit of a rollercoaster. In the opener at Hawaii, he made 3-of-5 shots, including 2-of-4 from three-point range, and he scored eight points. In game two, against St. Mary's, See missed all eight of his field goal attempts, including all seven of his three-point tries. He did have lots of company as the Gauchos shot just 32.8% as a team against the Gaels. On Sunday, against Southeast Missouri State, See played a season-high 28 minutes and he went 3-of-6 from the field overall, 2-of-5 from three-point range, and he scored eight points. In addition, in the game against Southeast Missouri, he had a season-high of four rebounds. See is tied with Jacoby Atako for the team-lead in three-point baskets with four.

Shooting Gallery
Through two games, a win over Hawaii and a loss to St. Mary's, UCSB was struggling with its shooting. In the win over the Rainbow Warriors, the Gauchos shot 39.6%, making 21-of-53 shots from the field. The shooting, like the weather, cooled down even more in Montana. In the tourney opener against the Gaels, Santa Barbara shot a miserable 19-of-58 overall, 32.8%, and just 11.8% from three-point territory. So, after two games, UCSB had made just 40-of-111 shots, 36.0%, not too hot for a team that made a solid, if not spectacular 44.2% in 2002-03. In Sunday's tournament finale, the Gauchos made a season-best 45.6%, hitting 26-of-57 shots. Unfortunately for UCSB, the opponent heated-up as well. After allowing Hawaii and St. Mary's to make just 41-of-97 from the field, 42.3%, the Gauchos allowed Southeast Missouri to make 26-of-50 overall, 52.0%, 15-of-24 in the second half, 62.5%, and 10-of-17 from three-point range, 58.8%.

Gauchos On The Rebound
Last season, UCSB was outrebounded by a count of 31.5 to 30.8. It marked the first time in five seasons under Bob Williams, that the Gauchos were outrebounded. In the season-opener at Hawaii, Santa Barbara recorded a solid 36-31 rebounding edge against a taller Rainbow Warrior team. Casey Cook led the way with a game-high 12 rebounds. In game two, against St. Mary's, UCSB was outrebounded 42-30 and five Gael players had at least six rebounds, the total of the top Gaucho, Cook. On Sunday, the rebounding rollercoaster changed course again as UCSB outrebounded Southeast Missouri State by a 36-26 count. In three games, the Gauchos are now outrebounding the opposition, 34.0 to 33.0.

Just Joshing
Sophomore swingman Josh Davis didn't even know he would play this year until just a few days before the season-opener at Hawaii. Until Branduinn Fullove hurt his foot, it was thought that Davis would redshirt the 2003-04 season. In the game at Hawaii, he struggled on the offensive end of the court, missing all eight of his field goal attempts, but in the two games at the Montana Doubletree Holiday Classic, Davis was much better on offense. In the games against St. Mary's and Southeast Missouri State, he nailed 7-of-12 shots from the field, including 7-of-11 from two-point territory. The ten points that Davis scored in the St. Mary's game marked the second time in his career that he had scored in double-figures. He scored a career-high 14 points in a win over UC Riverside last season.

On The Horizon
Following the game against Westmont College, the Gauchos will play a December 13 home game against the University of San Diego, last year's WCC Tournament champs.